


Baking with Muriel

by MurielsApprentice



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gender-Neutral Apprentice (The Arcana), Other, the arcana - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25755244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurielsApprentice/pseuds/MurielsApprentice
Summary: Apprentice lives with Muriel. Apprentice is waiting outside his hut with Inanna and Muriel comes back to surprise the apprentice with their favorite pumpkin bread and makings for other sweets. Insert cute baking and innocent fluff hehe.Gender-neutral apprentice so everyone can enjoy :D
Relationships: Apprentice & Muriel (The Arcana), Apprentice/Muriel (The Arcana), Muriel (The Arcana)/Reader, Muriel (The Arcana)/You
Comments: 3
Kudos: 72





	Baking with Muriel

The sun gently seeped through the openings of the trees as a light, warm breeze danced through the apprentice’s hair. The clear sky made the forest seem so much bigger than it already was. They were hidden in the shade of a giant tree in front of Muriel’s hut, quietly reading their favorite book. With Inanna happily panting in their lap, along with the comforting sounds of birds chirping and the ongoing breeze, it created what seemed to be an almost perfect scenario for them.

Except, something was missing.

Or, in their case, someone.

Muriel had gone out earlier that morning to retrieve essentials from the marketplace. Normally, they both would’ve gone together as Muriel never enjoyed crowds (although, it was secretly one of his favorite places to go with the apprentice, solely because of how excited they got over pumpkin bread), but he insisted that they slept in that morning due to using a lot of their magic the day before. They tried to object, but they could never seem to say no to the gentle giant... especially after persuading them with many soft kisses all over their face, and a few passionate ones to the lips. 

They just couldn't help it. 

They looked up from their book to see Inanna, who was still resting on their lap halfway in the sun. They began to slowly stroke her fur as they put their book aside. She let out a small yip of excitement as she rolled over to expose her stomach. The apprentice giggled and began using both hands to vigorously scratch her belly. She wiggled and squirmed at them as they used their (slightly embarrassing) baby voice. 

Then, just at that moment, she became completely covered in shade and two giant feet had stepped behind her. 

The apprentice was completely caught off guard and stopped mid-sentence. They looked up to see Muriel carrying four bags full of food and supplies, and Inanna jumping up at his face in excitement. 

That’s a lot more things than usual, they thought.

“Good morning, Muri,” the apprentice beamed as they grabbed their book and stood up. Even though they were much shorter than he was, they were finally able to take in his presence. His beautiful, deep green eyes always looked stunning in the morning sun. It was the first thing the apprentice had noticed about him when they had met again after three years.

“Morning,” he grinned delicately. Muriel also took a few seconds to take in his partner before they again spoke:

“Let me take some of those bags. They look a little heavy.” The apprentice began removing two of the four bags he was carrying.

“You really don’t have to, you know. I was able to walk the whole forest with them just fine,” Muriel blushed.

“You don’t have to do everything for us, Muri. Let me help.” Muriel nodded hesitantly knowing that he couldn’t change their mind. They both carried the bags into the hut as Inanna trotted closely behind them. As soon as they set them down, Inanna laid down by the fire and Muriel went to sit down on his bed, letting out a faint sigh. The apprentice slowly creeped over to the bed and sat down close beside him.

“Hi,” they said playfully as they subtly placed their hand on Muriel’s jaw. They began to gently stroke his stubble with their thumb in a comforting manner as he put his arms around their shoulders and looked down at them. They looked up to meet his eyes when they noticed his messy hair in the way. “I missed you this morning," they teased as they brushed his hair aside, now getting a proper view of his handsome face.

The slightest smile appeared across his lips. “Me too. Wait- I mean, I missed you too.” They chuckled and placed a kiss on his nose. Muriel turned a slight crimson and began to play with the apprentices hair as his smile grew a little wider. They closed their eyes and let out a small huff. The apprentice loved having their hair played with, especially in the morning. It always made them feel special. It was probably their favorite way of showing affection. Muriel briefly stopped, only to give them a warm, compassionate kiss on the lips, and then continued shortly after. 

This was happiness.

“I uh, bought something for you,” he awkwardly stated after about a minute or so. The apprentice opened their eyes again, somewhat surprised.

“Oh? Really?” A half grin formed on their face.

“Yes, really. Close your eyes, I’ll walk you to the table and show you.” Muriel unravels his arms from the apprentice and stands up from the bed, holding out his hand to them. They laugh and get up as well, covering their eyes with one hand and taking Muriel’s hand in the other. He leisurely guided them to the table, taking slight amusement in their attempts to walk blindly. They finally sat down on a chair and they could almost tell what the surprise was, eyes still covered...

They knew that smell anywhere.

They heard the rustling of Muriel taking the items out of the bag and him placing it on the table with a quiet thud.

“You can open them now.”

The apprentice removed the hand covering their eyes.

Two loaves of their favorite pumpkin bread.

They gasped. “I thought Selasi wouldn’t be back for a few weeks!” they exclaimed with joy.

“Heh, he came back earlier than expected. Said he found all the supplies he needed at his first stop.” Muriel then moved closer to the table and reached into the bag for something else. He placed down several lemons, a box of blueberries, and some other ingredients onto the table.

“He also… gave me a blueberry lemon bread recipe,” He said nervously. “I thought maybe, we could spend the day baking? I don’t really know how, but I thought it might be fun...but only if you want to, of course.” The apprentice’s eyes immediately lit up.

“That sounds amazing. I’d love to,” They took Muriel’s hand and kissed his knuckles. Muriel’s heart melted at the gesture. 

“I’m glad.” He looked absolutely delighted...and a little anxious. They got up out of their seat and they began to work. Neither of them were super familiar with baking, especially Muriel, but the apprentice had a little experience with Asra the few times they’d made sweets together. They found themselves teaching Muriel how to do a few things, such as measuring the ingredients correctly, how to properly use a whisk, and how to scrape the sides off with a spatula.

“Is this...right?” Muriel asked as he was meticulously scraping the sides of the bowl that was once full of batter into the small, metallic baking tray.

“Yep, you’re doing great.” The apprentice said in a happy tone. Once he was done, they took the batter filled tray and put it in the oven. They then noticed a bit of batter on his cheek. “Hey, can I see your face real quick?” 

Muriel was a little confused at first but he leaned down to where they could reach his face. They then licked the batter right off his cheek. Muriel seemed quite caught off guard by this, and his whole face turned a deep cherry. The apprentice snickered, when they were abruptly being swept off the ground and into Muriel’s sturdy arms as he beamed at them dearly. As they continued to laugh, Muriel sat the both of them down on his bed, the apprentice now perched in his lap. His gaze looked deep and loving.

“Having fun, love?” They giggled. Muriel began to gingerly place his head on the apprentice’s neck and wrap his arms around their shoulders. 

“You’re just so great...” He muttered under his breath. Their heart skipped a beat. Muriel lifted his head back up and looked into their eyes with great determination. “I… really couldn’t imagine anything better than this. Being with you, I mean.” That was probably the sweetest thing Muriel had ever said to them.

“W-wow. Muriel, that’s… so meaningful coming from you.” The apprentice couldn’t help but smile. He had come so far in the past year… they were so incredibly proud in that moment. Muriel placed his gentle hands onto their cheeks as he giggled softly. Muriel kissed their forehead, and then made his way down to their lips. 

“Can I?” he asked shyly.

“Please do." Once their lips connected, it was suddenly like the world was set on fire. Each kiss became more and more passionate than the last, and as the minutes went by, they became more and more lost in each other.

All of a sudden, the kitchen timer went off and they both jumped. They looked at each other for a second, then burst out laughing. Muriel pulled his cloak back up and went to take the bread out of the oven. The apprentice got off from the bed and watched him take it out. 

Had it been that long already? That felt like seconds.

As soon as Muriel opened the oven, they got a waft of the delicious smelling blueberry lemon bread. Soon, the entire hut smelled of sweets and fresh berries, along with the rest of the clearing that surrounded his hut. It was definitely a nice change.

They ended up eating so much blueberry lemon bread they fell asleep in each other's arms by the fire, with Inanna sprawled in both of their laps.

It was so good, they made two more loaves the next day.

Maybe even better than that pumpkin bread...


End file.
